Tonight on FRONTLINE

“This economic episode leaves me feeling the same way I do at the conclusion of Hamlet.

It's a real living tragedy.”

“It makes one wonder if anyone in financial services had a clue about what they were doing.... and now they've screwed us all.”

“And now this too....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7909248.stm”

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FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/

- This Week: "Sick Around America" (60 minutes),
March 31st at 9pm on PBS (Check local listings)
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"You might be surprised," a health policy expert says near the start of this week's FRONTLINE, before listing some of the reasons people are routinely denied health insurance. "People are turned down because they have hay fever, because they have acne. People are turned down if they're 20 pounds overweight. Bedwetting, ear infections in kids..."

Unfortunately, after watching "Sick Around America" this Tuesday night (check local listings), you might come away thinking those denied coverage for frivolous reasons are actually the lucky ones.

In this film, producer Jon Palfreman travels the country talking to some of the millions of Americans who are uninsured, underinsured, or at risk of bankruptcy from unpaid medical bills. He meets a woman who's dropped by her insurer not long after she receives a cancer diagnosis. He finds a 23 year-old engineering student who had planned to head off to grad school, but, instead, works a low-wage job for the affordable health coverage he needs to cover a chronic condition.

And then there's the tragic story of a young woman who dies of Lupus after being dropped by her state's Medicaid program. "I'm not afraid to say it," her doctor tells FRONTLINE in an emotional interview. "Nikki didn't die from Lupus. "Nikki died... secondary to the complications of a failing health care system."

"I think everyone now understands it's not sustainable, right?" says Jeffrey Kang, a doctor and insurance executive. "From an insurance perspective it's not sustainable. From a business perspective it's not sustainable. Obviously from the consumers' perspective it's not sustainable. And I actually think the doctors and the hospitals understand that it's not sustainable..."

The question that powerfully emerges from this film--and which now confronts the nation--is whether the vested interests vying for trillions in health care dollars can come together to make the kind of fundamental change that everyone now seems to agree we need.

We hope you'll join us Tuesday night for the full report--broadcast or streamed online. In the meantime, visit our Web site for a preview http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundamerica/ . Starting Tuesday night our site offers interviews with key players, some critical background and links, and the opportunity to join the discussion.

Ken Dornstein
Senior Editor

”

“Anyone follow the story of the doctor who offered to see any patient as many times as they wanted for a flat fee of $79/month? Last I heard, the govt made him stop. Oh well, they know what's best anyway so, meh.”

“http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/blackmoney/

So all along, Tony Blair was actually Prince Sultan�s poodle? � < G >

When asked about corruption involving the Saudi royal family, �Bindar Bush� replied �So what?�.... � Sound familiar? � ROF! � So they�re criminals. � "So what?"

And Prince Bindar�s new atty is.... � Louis Freeh! � LMAO!”

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FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/

- This Week: "The Tank Man" (60 minutes),
June 9th at 9pm on PBS (Check local listings)
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To mark the twentieth anniversary of the crushing of the Chinese pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, this Tuesday night FRONTLINE is re-airing filmmaker Antony Thomas' 2006 report, "The Tank Man," which attempts to solve an enduring mystery:

Who was the lone, unarmed man who stepped in front of a column of Chinese Army tanks back in June, 1989? What happened to him afterward? And how did Tiananmen help redefine China's view of itself, and its place in the world?

In this definitive account, Thomas uses eyewitness and expert accounts to retell the amazing events of the spring of 1989, and to sort truth from myth about the man who became an icon of the struggle for freedom around the world before disappearing into history. Thomas also attempts to understand how China's leadership charted a course through the tumult, then remade the country into a global economic superpower in subsequent years.

The most telling scenes in the film may be those in which the legacy of Tiananmen seems least clear: At one point, Thomas shows the image of "Tank Man" to undergraduates at Beijing University, but none of them recognize it.

There are conflicting reports about whether images of "Tank Man" continue to be blocked across China. But, as we recently learned, if you attempt to watch this FRONTLINE film from inside the country, you're sure to find yourself out of luck�your connection will be blocked by Chinese censors, and your Internet browser temporarily shut down.

For more on the current situation in China, listen to FRONTLINE's new podcast, featuring an interview with The New Yorker's Beijing correspondent, Evan Osnos. The podcast also includes an interview with filmmaker Thomas who discusses the making of this film, including the moment he showed "Tank Man" to the university students.

Go to --
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/rss/flpodcast.xml

We hope you'll join us for this broadcast Tuesday night. And a reminder: You can watch the show anytime online at our Web site where it is streamed in high quality video. The site also offers much more on this story.

Ken Dornstein
Senior Editor

”

“I would have to assume the guy is dead. probably within a few weeks or months of that event or languishing deep in a hole somewhere in a Chinese prison. But some say he is just in hiding. the first option is more likely.”

“Glenn Beck On “20/20” This Friday

Stossel will destroy this right wing extremist.....right?

You should watch and see”

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FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/

- This Week: "Breaking the Bank" (60 minutes),
June 16th at 9pm on PBS (Check local listings)

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Since the U.S. economy slipped into free fall last year, FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk and his team have been going behind closed doors -- on Wall Street and in Washington -- to report the story.

Their February program, "Inside the Meltdown," examined how, in just six months, the U.S. financial system unraveled. This week, for FRONTLINE's season finale, they've produced "Breaking the Bank," an inside story of the government's massive, ongoing intervention to save the financial system.

"This is the story of the most important change in the relationship between government and private business in a generation," Kirk says. His focus is on Ken Lewis' Bank of America, and its controversial purchase of Merrill Lynch in September 2008--a deal which continues to raise questions about the role played by the nation's top economic officials in the affairs of private banks.

Kirk also examines one extraordinary moment last October when Henry Paulson, then Treasury secretary, gathered together the heads of the nation's largest banks and forced them to take $125 billion in public money. "I think we nationalized the banks in the United States on that day," former International Monetary Fund economist Simon Johnson says. You can listen to fresh interviews with both Kirk and Johnson in this week's FRONTLINE podcast if you go to http://feeds2.feedburner.com/FrontlinePodcastPbs

Meanwhile, as Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis remains on the hot seat in Congress--and with his shareholders-- tune in Tuesday to see what he told FRONTLINE about the Merrill deal, and the future of his bank. And hear as well from former Merrill CEO, John Thain--Kirk managed to interview both of these heavy hitters in this week's program.

After the broadcast, visit our Web site for the full program streamed online, plus interviews (with video excerpts) and more background on the story. It's all at http://www.pbs.org/frontline/breakingthebank/

Ken Dornstein
Senior Editor

”

“Bush and the democrats sold us down the river on that deal, that's for sure.”

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FRONTLINE/World
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/

- This Week: "Digital Dumping Ground" (60 Minutes) June 23rd at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)

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Have you made the switch to a new flat screen TV recently, or upgraded your PC? Wondering what happens to that old equipment once you dispose of it, or whether someone down the line may have access to the personal data on your hard drive?

This Tuesday night, FRONTLINE/World presents "Digital Dumping Ground," a global investigation into the afterlife of our favorite electronic devices--hundreds of millions of pounds them each year--which mostly end up scattered across the developing world once we're done with them.

The story's reported and produced by Peter Klein and a team of his graduate journalism students at the University of British Columbia, who tracked the electronic waste around the world. They tell the story of the toxic trade from the ground level in China, India, and Ghana, where the ill-health effects of all of the burning plastic, lead, and tin--standard "recycling" efforts in the world's digital dumps-- have begun to take a toll.

"This is the dirty little secret of the high-tech industry," says Jim Puckett, an activist who was one of the first to uncover the dumping of ewaste in China. "I was here first in 2001, and it was shocking enough then," Puckett says while joining Klein's team in Guiyu, China, the world capital of ewaste. "It's gone from very bad to really horrific..."

One big surprise: In Ghana, the students purchase hard drives at an open air market, then discover the personal information of the original owners--family photos, credit card numbers, account information--which cybercriminals are known to exploit. They also find a trove of documents from a major U.S. defense contractor that disclose details of multi-million dollar government contracts--a breach which concerns one of the FBI's top data security specialists interviewed by Klein.

Also in this hour, two of the more uplifting stories from FRONTLINE/World this year: "Middle East, Inc.," a portrait of a non-profit that's trying to inspire young Arab entrepreneurs by sponsoring a contest which eight teams across Cairo are pulling out all the stops to win. And, in Vietnam, the story of a pioneering effort to make an affordable wheelchair for the developing world.

We hope you'll join us for Tuesday night's broadcast--the season finale. Then keep checking in at http://pbs.org/frontlineworld/ for more "stories from a small planet" until we're back on the air next fall.

Ken Dornstein
Senior Producer

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/

”

“Shop at Wal-Mart.”

“

http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/”

“Latest on Afghanistan. Great footage.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/?utm_campaign=ObamasWar&utm_medium=NewsSiteTarget&utm_source=image”

“The fools learned absolutely nothing from the collapse of Long Term Capital Mgt.

Incredible.

”